Monday, August 18, 2014

Striker – City of Gold

“City of Gold” marks the third full-length
album for Canadian speed metal juggernauts Striker. While their first album was
pretty great in its own right, the band took a huge leap forward with their
sophomore release. Despite taking a slightly different direction, “City of
Gold” continues the band’s streak of great albums. In general, the sound of
this album is similar to the prior records, but the main reason it feels
different is because “City of Gold” appears to be more serious than the last
album. “Armed To The Teeth” was the sort of record that you could throw on at a
party and sing along to easily. While “City of Gold” still has plenty of catchy
choruses, they are presented in a different way.

One reason why the album sounds a bit
different is because it can get incredibly thrashy at times. Opening track
“Underground” is an absolute speed monster, delivering some riffs that would
not be out of place on an album adorning Ed Repka’s artwork. Even the next
song, the title track, takes a thrashier approach with its verse riff. Both of
these songs, along with nearly every other track are driven by melodic, awesome
choruses. Vocalist Dan Cleary sounds as good as ever; he manages to unleash
some banshee-like screams, alongside his normal singing voice. The vocal lines
are all incredibly memorable. Even just looking at the track listing now, many
of the choruses immediately come to my head. Other unforgettable tracks include "Crossroads", "All For One", and "All I Want". It's absurd how this band will manage to keep songs stuck in your head for hours.

One song that deserves special mention is
“Bad Decisions”. This song shows Striker abandoning speed metal and going
full-on AOR. It’s pretty tame, and even a bit out of place, yet completely
amazing. As a sucker for glam metal, arena rock, or whatever you want to call
it, this song is pure magic. Cleary puts forth his best performance, as the
song is more dynamic, giving him more space to work with. The main riff strings together a few power
chords quite effectively, not unlike “Rock You Like A Hurricane”, while the
verse shows the band channeling their inner Def Leppard.

As a whole, “City of Gold” is an impressive
offering. I would be surprised if any Striker fan dislikes this. The band has
had a bit of turnover since their last full-length, but it doesn’t appear to be
affecting them at all. This album has all of the Striker essentials: high-speed
riffs, energetic and enthusiastic vocals, shredding guitar solos, and just
killer songs. While I still think I prefer “Armed To The Teeth”, there is no
doubt that this album is incredibly strong.